The Greenfield Beat: Jesseca Timmons – Work continues at Seven Hills (and what about the pool?)

Students at Seven Hills School and Village at Crotched Mountain enjoy the campus pool. 

Students at Seven Hills School and Village at Crotched Mountain enjoy the campus pool.  COURTESY PHOTO BY DEBORAH TIGHE 

The newly renovated lounge for residential staff. 

The newly renovated lounge for residential staff.  COURTESY PHOTO BY DEBORAH TIGHE 

Newly completed staff housing at the Seven Hills at Crotched Mountain campus. 

Newly completed staff housing at the Seven Hills at Crotched Mountain campus.  COURTESY PHOTO BY DEBORAH TIGHE 

The team at Seven Hills celebrating breaking ground on a new heating  and hot-water pipe for the 145-acre campus. 

The team at Seven Hills celebrating breaking ground on a new heating  and hot-water pipe for the 145-acre campus.  COURTESY PHOTO SEVEN HILLS FOUNDATION

Jeremy Hall, director of facilities at Seven Hills Crotched Mountain School and Village, poses in the the ditch for the new campus heating system. 

Jeremy Hall, director of facilities at Seven Hills Crotched Mountain School and Village, poses in the the ditch for the new campus heating system.  COURTESY PHOTO SEVEN HILLS FOUNDATION

Jesseca Timmons

Jesseca Timmons COURTESY PHOTO

Published: 06-07-2024 12:01 PM

A lot has been happening lately up on the Seven Hills campus on our side of Crotched Mountain.

Everyone in town has probably noticed the new signage at the bottom of Crotched Mountain Road announcing that the campus is now officially called “Seven Hills New Hampshire: Crotched Mountain School and Village.” The Seven Hills Foundation, which purchased the Crotched Mountain School campus from Gersh Autism in 2022,  had a challenge trying to figure out what to rename the school. There is plenty of “Crotched” confusion already between the ski area, the golf course and the old Crotched Mountain Inn (now the wonderful Blue Bear Inn) and the Crotched Mountain Foundation. 

According to Lenny Cornwell, who knows about everything there is to know about the history of Greenfield, the smaller hill on this side of Crotched Mountain is actually called Russell Hill.

“It is very confusing, because while Seven Hills purchased the 145-acre school campus, the Crotched Mountain Foundation still owns 90% of the land up here, including the trails and the land on the lake,” said Deborah Tighe, who is director of development at the Seven Hills campus in Greenfield. 

The Crotched Mountain Foundation, the former owner of the campus, is now based in Manchester and continues to provide services for children with autism and other needs across the state. 

The Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center was founded in 1953 by Harry Gregg, father of former New Hampshire Gov. Hugh Gregg, and grandfather of former U.S. Sen. Judd Gregg, who lived on East Road. The rehabilitation center originally served children with polio, and has served varying needs over the years, including the highly regarded brain-injury hospital that ran for many years.

Continuing the tradition started by the Gregg family, Seven Hills at Crotched Mountain provides “therapeutic education for children with autism, disabilities and complex needs.” According to Tighe, Seven Hills is hoping to expand into providing care for adults with  complex needs, as well. Tighe said the school is making great strides in ramping up to full student capacity. 

“In the past 18 months, we have completed 10 major renovations on campus, including two residential housing units for the staff. Getting the campus back to where it needs to be at has been a significant challenge, but Seven Hills is totally committed to the process,” Tighe said

Article continues after...

Yesterday's Most Read Articles

Greenfield resident Jeremy Hall, who is facilities manager for the Seven Hills at Crotched Mountain campus, reports that his crew just broke ground on a massive infrastructure project to replace nearly a mile of district heating pipe that will deliver energy for heat and cooling throughout the 400,000-square-foot campus. 

“This is a major project, and it’s very exciting because once we have that pipe replaced, we can get up and running on sustainable, renewable energy,” Hall said. “We actually have our own biomass plant which powers almost the entire campus.”  

Around town, what most people are wondering is “When is the pool going to reopen to the public?” Tighe said Seven Hills is trying to get the pool open to the community as soon as possible, but that a major limitation is finding lifeguards to staff the facility. 

“Opening the pool to the community is a big priority. We know the pool was very popular with the community, and we know there are not a lot of pools around here. We are figuring out to safely open the pool. We are hoping to have an opening event in the fall,” Tighe said. 

Tighe said that like all businesses, Seven Hills is challenged with the finding staff they need to run at full capacity.

“What is really hard is that the number of children needing residential placements like we can provide here at Seven Hills keeps increasing, but we can’t provide those placements until the campus is fully renovated and we are fully staffed,” Tighe said. 

Seven Hills is hiring, and many positions include housing. Visit sevenhills.org/crotched-mountain-school-job-opportunities to learn more.

The Seven Hills Foundation is participating in 2024 NH Gives, which opens at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, June 11. For information, go to nhgives.org/organizations/crotchedmountainschoolandvillage-sevenhillsnh